EXPLAINER: Fighting fire with fire to protect sequoia trees

With flames advancing toward the signature grove of past monolithic trees successful Sequoia National Park, firefighters Thursday fought occurrence with fire.

Using firing operations to pain retired flammable vegetation and different substance earlier the wildfire was expected to get successful the Giant Forest is 1 of respective ways firefighters tin usage their nemesis arsenic a instrumentality to stop, dilatory oregon redirect fires.

The maneuver comes with sizeable risks if conditions change.

But it is routinely utilized to support communities, homes oregon invaluable resources similar the grove of astir 2,000 monolithic sequoias, including the world's largest tree, the General Sherman.